Ryan: No, no. Go straight, and turn left. There will be a post office on the right.

แดน: โอเคครับ ขอบคุณมากครับ (oo-khee khráp. khàawp-khun mâak khráp.)

Ryan: OK. Thank you very much.

Ryan: So Khru Pim, this lesson is about giving directions, but if the place you’re going isn’t so nearby, the person might just tell you the location.

Pim: That’s true. They would probably just tell you the name of the street and the soi number.

Ryan: What’s a soi number? Is that like an address or zip code?

Pim: No. Soi is a word in Thai that means a side street or alley. All the small streets that branch off from main roads are given a number. For example, if they say “Sukhumvit Soi 14” that means “side street #14 off Sukhumvit Road”.

Ryan: And these side streets must be numbered in order, right? So I’d find Soi 14 between Soi 13 and Soi 15?

Pim: Not quite. All the even numbered sois are on one side of the main road, and all the odd numbered sois are on the other side. So, in this case, Soi 14 might be right across from Soi 13 or Soi 15. But it could also end up being a kilometer down the road. It all depends on how many sois each side of the road has.

Ryan: OK, I think I got it. So they go in numbered order on each side of the street, but the two sides might not match up together so well.

Pim: Exactly.

Ryan: Alright then, let’s move on now to the vocabulary.

Ryan: The first word we shall see is:

Pim: โปสการ์ด (bpóot-gáat) [natural native speed]

Ryan: postcard

Pim: โปสการ์ด (bpóot-gáat) [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Pim: โปสการ์ด (bpóot-gáat) [natural native speed]

: Next:

Pim: ใบ (bai) [natural native speed]

Ryan: classifier for bags, hats, leaves, and slips of paper

Pim: ใบ (bai) [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Pim: ใบ (bai) [natural native speed]

: Next:

Pim: ราคา (raa-khaa) [natural native speed]

Ryan: cost, price, to cost

Pim: ราคา (raa-khaa) [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Pim: ราคา (raa-khaa) [natural native speed]

: Next:

Pim: ไปรษณีย์ (bprai-sà-nii) [natural native speed]

Ryan: post, post office

Pim: ไปรษณีย์ (bprai-sà-nii) [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Pim: ไปรษณีย์ (bprai-sà-nii) [natural native speed]

: Next:

Pim: ตรงไป (dtrong bpai) [natural native speed]

Ryan: to go straight

Pim: ตรงไป (dtrong bpai) [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Pim: ตรงไป (dtrong bpai) [natural native speed]

: Next:

Pim: เลี้ยว (líiao) [natural native speed]

Ryan: to turn

Pim: เลี้ยว (líiao) [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Pim: เลี้ยว (líiao) [natural native speed]

: Next:

Pim: ซ้าย (sáai) [natural native speed]

Ryan: left

Pim: ซ้าย (sáai) [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Pim: ซ้าย (sáai) [natural native speed]

: Next:

Pim: ขวา (khwǎa) [natural native speed]

Ryan: right

Pim: ขวา (khwǎa) [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Pim: ขวา (khwǎa) [natural native speed]

: Next:

Pim: ทาง (thaang) [natural native speed]

Ryan: way, path

Pim: ทาง (thaang) [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Pim: ทาง (thaang) [natural native speed]

: Next:

Pim: ใช่ (châi) [natural native speed]

Ryan: right, correct, yes

Pim: ใช่ (châi) [slowly - broken down by syllable]

Pim: ใช่ (châi) [natural native speed]

Ryan: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson.

Ryan: This is a polite way to ask for some information. รู้ไหม (rúu mái) means “Do you know?” This is followed by a polite particle. Then comes ว่า (wâa), which is used here to connect the verb “to know” with the thing that is known.

Pim: You could use this pattern at the beginning of many types of questions, such as...

Pim: That’s right, but we also use it in a different way. Sometimes ไม่ใช่ (mâi châi) will be directly followed by some information that is incorrect. So in this way, ไม่ใช่ (mâi châi) means “am not’, “is not”, or “are not”.

Ryan: So basically it replaces the verb “to be” in negative statements.

Pim: Exactly. Let’s compare a couple positive and negative statements so you can see what we mean. เห็ด (hèt) means “mushroom”. So I can point at something and say...

นั่นคือเห็ด (nân khuue hèt)

Ryan: “That’s a mushroom.”

Pim: Or I can point at another object and say...นั่นไม่ใช่เห็ด (nân mâi châi hèt)

Ryan: “That’s not a mushroom.”

Pim: Here’s a different example. หมอ means “doctor”. So I can show you a picture of somebody and say...เขาเป็นหมอ (khăo bpen mǎaw)

Ryan: “He’s a doctor.”

Pim: Then I can point at someone else in the picture and say...เขาไม่ใช่หมอ (khăo mâi châi mǎaw)

Ryan: “He’s not a doctor.” OK. Let’s move along to the grammar section now.

Ryan: The focus of this lesson’s grammar is giving directions.

Pim: To give basic directions, there are three main phrases we need to know

Ryan: Let’s go straight first.

Pim: OK, the phrase for “Go straight” is ตรงไป dtrong-bpai.

Ryan: ตรงไป (dtrong-bpai). OK I got it. Now let’s turn.

Pim: The verb “to turn” is เลี้ยว (líiao). And the two directions are ซ้าย (sáai) for “left” and ขวา (khwǎa) for “right”.

Pim: That’s right. Also, when we want to say “Go straight and then turn left”, we can use แล้ว (láaeo) to mean “and then”, as a way to link the two commands together.

Ryan: OK, so how about we try those two together. Listeners please repeat after Khru Pim. “Go straight and then turn left”

Pim: ตรงไป แล้วเลี้ยวซ้าย (dtrong bpai. láaeo líiao sáai)

Ryan: (pause) Great. And now the other way, “Go straight and then turn right.”

Pim: ตรงไป แล้วเลี้ยวขวา (dtrong bpai. láaeo líiao khwǎa)

Ryan: (pause) So finally, how do we say “It’s on the left” or “It’s on the right”?

Pim: The name of the location is the subject of the sentence. Then comes the verb อยู่ (yùu), meaning “to be located”. Then for “on the left” or “on the right” we can use the phrases ทางซ้าย (thaang-sáai) for “left side” and ทางขวา (thaang-khwǎa) for “right side”.

Ryan: Alright, let’s start with “post office” as the subject since that’s what was in the conversation. How do we say “The post office is on the right.”

Pim: ไปรษณีย์อยู่ทางขวา (bprai-sà-nii yùu thaang-khwǎa)

Ryan: So we need to know more words for different buildings and places to give more directions. What’s the word for “bank”?

Pim: ธนาคาร (thá-naa-khaan)

Ryan: And what is “hotel”?

Pim: โรงแรม (roong-raaem)

Ryan: Now how about the word for “barbershop”?

Pim: ร้านตัดผม (ráan dtàt phŏm)

Ryan: OK, that will be enough words to use for now, but there is also a list of more types of buildings in the lesson notes. So be sure to check it out.

Pim: Are you ready? Can you guess how to say “Go straight and then turn left. The bank is on the left.”

Ryan: Now for the last one, let’s let the listeners try to guess the answer. How would you say “Go straight and then turn left. The barbershop is on the right.” (pause) Can you give us the answer in three parts, Khru Pim? First “Go straight”

Hi listeners, can you tell us the direction from your home to the nearest convenient store in Thai?

ThaiPod101.com

Wednesday at 11:24 pm

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

Hello Harald,

Thank you very much for your comment and questions. We really appreciated it. We use name of places that familia to you because you can figure that out easier that is a name of places. If it's a Thai place and not really well known it will be a little bit of a trouble. I know we can inform you guy on lesson note but not everyone always on lesson note so we make it easy for you. Please feel free to ask if have future questions. I will be so glad to help. We wish you have a good progress in learning Thai. ?

Thanks again and hope you have a nice day.

Parisa

Team ThaiPod101.com

Harald

Tuesday at 6:33 am

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

เลี้ยวซ้าย แล่วเลี้ยวซ้ายอีกครั้ง ตรงไป ลีเดลจะอยู่ทางขวาครับ

ลีเดล (Lidl) is a convenient store near my home.

How could I improve my sentence? :D

Many Thanks //Harald

ThaiPod101.com

Tuesday at 11:04 am

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

Hello Bjoern

Thank you very much for your comment and question. There are the same and can be exchange excepted when you say the spot of place you looking for, is on the left or on the right we will use "......yùu taang-sáai" or "........yùu taang-kwaa". Hope that help. Please feel free to ask if have future questions. I will be so glad to help. We wish you have a good progress in learning Thai. ?

Have a nice day.

Parisa

Team ThaiPod101.com

Bjoern

Monday at 10:20 pm

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

Hello Parisa,

when will i use kang khwaa and when tang khwaa? Is there a difference?

Thaipod101.com

Monday at 12:55 pm

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

Hello Tobi,

Thanks again for the comment. For your question, ไม่ทราบว่า and รู้ไหมครับว่า are very close, you can use them with the same situation but different way of asking question like

รู้ไหมครับว่าจอห์นมาทำงานไหม

ไม่ทราบว่าจอห์นมาทำงานไหมครับ

Have a nice day.

Parisa

Team ThaiPod101.com

Tobi

Wednesday at 10:10 pm

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

In a previous lesson we learned that we can start a polite question with ไม่ทราบว่า...

Now in this lesson we also learned the use of รู้ไหมครับว่า

Are those 2 used in exactly the same way or are they different?

ThaiPod101.com

Thursday at 7:02 pm

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

Hello Joanne,

ผู้ชายที่อยู่ทางขวาสุดคือลุงของดิฉันเอง

phûu-chaai thîi yùu thaang-khwǎa sùt khuue lung khǎawng chǎn eeng

She just means that it her own uncle, because one usage of "eeng" is "oneself". Hope that help.

Have a nice day.

Parisa

Team ThaiPod101.com

joanne

Monday at 9:51 pm

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

สวัสดีค่ะ

From the vocabulary expansion:

ผู้ชายที่อยู่ทางขวาสุดคือลุงของดิฉันเอง

phûu-chaai thîi yùu thaang-khwǎa sùt khuue lung khǎawng chǎn eeng

What is the function of eeng at the end of this sentence? Is the speaker saying " that man is my ONLY uncle"?

Thank you,

joanne

ThaiPod101.com

Friday at 12:17 pm

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

Hello Rich,

Thank you very much for pointed out the mistake. We really appreciated. I will let our team know about the mistake.

Please let us know if you need any future helps.

Have a nice day.

Parisa

Team ThaiPod101.com

Rich

Tuesday at 10:04 am

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

The English for the Lesson Materials conversation piece, line 4, is incorrect. It's missing the part where she says "Go straight and then turn left." It only says "The post office will be on the right."

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